NYC snippets

Clara is seven months old.

We took a short trip to New York City recently to visit a
friend and to attend a conference.  I was impressed at how easy going
Clara was during the hectic commute.  When we arrived in NYC, we had
25 minutes to walk to the hotel, check in, and then I had to meet up
with the group working on the presentation.  We walked one mile from
the train station to the hotel.  I had Clara in her Ergo baby carrier
and Jason had our luggage and the baby car seat.  As we quickly walked
down 7th Avenue, Clara was quiet and looking at all the bright lights.
 Many New Yorkers smiled at her.  The hotel provided us with a small
crib which they helped us set up.  While I was at my meeting Jason
helped her get to sleep, which she did despite the unfamiliar
surroundings.  She slept through the night, which was great
considering the previous four nights she had been waking up around 3
AM for no particular reason.

Jason and Clara walked around Central Park until it began to rain.
Then they headed for St. Patrick's church (I guess that would be her
patron saint since she was born on St. Patrick's day).  In the
afternoon we took her first subway trip to Brooklyn to visit our
friends who had just had a baby.  Their baby was only 2 days old.  We
had forgotten how little she had been (considering she is now almost
19 pounds) but it all came rushing back when we saw their newborn.
She happily ate her Yo Baby yogurt (she hums the entire time she
eats),  and we headed back to the hotel.  She wasn't shy, when she
wanted a passengers attention she would tap them on the shoulder!

We rushed from the hotel to get to the train station on time.  The
taxi we took didn't even give us the chance to install her car seat.
Another cab nearly collided with him and he loudly cursed at the
driver, Clara's eyes grew big but she didn't cry.  At this point it
was an hour past her bedtime but she was patient as we waited to board
the train.  She fussed a little and went to sleep on the train.
Actually, we all went to sleep which became a problem because the
train stopped only a couple of minutes in Baltimore and we had to
almost run to get off in time.  The taxi to our house was more patient
and we made sure to put in her car seat.  She  was quiet the entire
time, until we got to her room then she finally felt free to protest
over the long day and hectic commute.  All was forgotten in the
morning when she woke up smiling.

She is making so many new sounds these days.  Sometimes it sounds like
real words.  For instance, she does not like having a shirt pulled
over her head and usually fusses when we change her onesies.  As I
changed her today it sounded like she said, "I hate that."  I looked
over at Jason and he agreed, it did sound like that (we know she
probably didn't know what she was babbling, but certainly it matched
how she felt!).

On Jason's birthday we went to the zoo for the first time with her.  There was only an hour left til closing so we rushed around trying to see as many
exhibits as possible before it closed.  As we watched the chimpanzees
calmly groom themselves we were surpised to see the eldest male chimp
begin to swing from the ropes.  The chimp seemd to forget the window was
there, and crashed into it. Thankfully, the window held up.  This embarrassment seemed to make him mad because he swung around and forcefully began to pound on the window just one foot away from where Clara was sitting in her stroller.  Clara quizically stared at him but did not cry and he turned his back to us once more.

The days now seem to rush by.  She can now sit without support and can
sometimes sit up (from lying position) without help.  She always wants
to explore and seems frustrated with her lack of mobility (which is a
relief to Jason and myself since we have yet to purchase baby gates
and other baby proofing devices).  She can stand by herself holding
onto her crib railing and enjoys jumping on our laps and gives us a
toothless grin whenever she sees us.  We are blessed to have her in
our lives!